A specification for a dynamically
created Web page with a .asp extension that contains
either Visual Basic or Jscript code.

B

b2b
(business-to-business)

Business Websites where only other
businesses can access or buy products on the site.

b2c
(business-to-consumer)

E-commerce Websites that sell goods directly to
consumers.

Beta

The preliminary or testing stage.
Commonly used when describing the pre-release phase of
new software. The beta phase comes after the alpha
version.

C

CGI
(Common Gateway Interface)

A standard for running programs on a
server from a Web page. Gateway programs, or scripts,
are executable programs that can be run independently.

Cookies

Cookies are small data files written to
a users hard drive when browsing certain Websites.
These data files contain information the site can use
to track such things as passwords, lists of pages
you've visited, and the date when you last looked at a
certain page.

CSS
(Cascading Style Sheet)

Cascading Style Sheets work like a
template, allowing Web developers to define a style
for an HTML element and then apply it to as many Web
pages as they like. It is usually a single text file
that contains lines of code, necessary to define such
elements as font family, size, weight, colour, etc. It
can also be included in an HTML document. (see HTML)

D

DHTML
(Dynamic HTML)

A combination of HTML, style sheets,
and scripts that make Web pages more interactive. (see
HTML)

Domain name

The address or URL of a particular
Website. The domain name comes after http://www. This
is also how you describe the name to the right of the
@ sign in an Internet address. Domain names come with
different extensions based on whether the domain
belongs to a commerical enterprise (.com), an
educational establishment (.edu), a government body
(.gov), the military (.mil), a network (.net), or a
nonprofit organization (.org). They can also have a
geographical extension such as .co.uk.
e.g. www.lankesterdesigns.co.uk.

E

Easter egg

Easter eggs are hidden features placed
by programmers in software applications, operating
systems, and even some hardware. When the hidden
command sequence is found, an Easter-egged product
will perform an action, such as displaying a message,
a small animation or playing a sound.

Extranet

Used by companies to provide non-public
information to a select group of people, such as
business partners or customers. An extranet may look
like an ordinary Website but you have to enter a
password or use digital encryption to access it.

F

Frameset

An invisible Web page that divides a
browser window into several sections, each with the
ability to display a separate Web page.

FTP
(File Transfer Protocol)

The Internet protocol that regulates
how files are transferred across the Internet.

G

GIF
(Graphics Interchange Format)

GIF is one of the two most popular
image formats used on the Internet. It supports up to
8-bit colour depth images, i.e. 256 colours. (see JPG)

GIF89a

The same format as GIF, but supports
animation and single colour transparency.

GIF87a

The earlier version of the GIF format
which does not support transparency or animation.

H

HTML
(HyperText Markup Language)

HTML is a collection of commands,
called Tags, integrated into plain text documents that
can be interpreted by Web browsers.

I

Interlace

An Interlaced GIF is displayed
incrementally in several passes, and detail is added
each time. Depending on which graphics viewer or Web
browser is being used, interlaced GIFs may produce a "venetian
blind" effect or simply a blurry or blocky image
that gradually sharpens. (see GIF & Noninterlaced)

ISP
(Internet Service Provider)

A company that provides access to the
Internet. Before you can connect to the Internet you
must first establish an account with an Internet
Service Provider. For a monthly or yearly charge the
service provider will give you a username, password
and an access phone number.

J

Javascript

A scripting language for Web pages
which can be embedded into HTML documents. JavaScript
was designed to resemble Java, which in turn is a lot
like C and C++.The difference is that Java was built
as a general purpose object language, while JavaScript
is intended to provide a quicker and simpler language
for enhancing Web pages. (see HTML)

JPG, or JPEG
(Joint Photographic Experts Group)

JPG is one of the two most popular
image formats used on the Internet. It is used for
photographs and other continuous tone images. It
supports 24-bit (16.7 million) colour but does not
support animation or transparency. (see GIF)

K

Keyword

The term or phrase that a user types in
to begin an online search. Keywords are a series of
words which help the search engines readily identify
and index a Website. These are often contained in the
meta tag of an HTML document. (see HTML & Meta
tag)

KPBS
(Kilobits per second)

A modem's speed is measured in the
number of bits it can transfer in a second. Modems
rated in kilobits per second are now the standard.

L

Lossy & Lossless

Two compression techniques used for
reducing the size of an image. Lossless techniques
throw away redundant bits of information without
affecting the quality of the image. Techniques, such
as JPEG, make files smaller, but they throw out image
quality in the process.(see GIF & JPG)

M

META Tags

Invisible elements in a Web page that
contain information about a Website's content and
keywords. Search engines use META Tags to gain
information about a Website. (see Keyword & Tag)

N

Noninterlaced

A noninterlaced GIF downloads one line
a time, starting from the top. (see GIF &
Interlaced)

O

Online

Being connected to the Internet via an
ISP. Used as an adjective, it describes a variety of
activities that users do on the Internet, for example:
online chat, online shopping, online games, online
searching, online communities, etc.

P

PNG
(Portable Network Graphics)

PNG is a format used to transmit and
store bitmapped images. It was created specifically
for the Internet and other networks. It provides alpha
transparency, high colour support, and slightly better
compression than GIF. Older browsers do not support
PNG. (see GIF & JPG)

Developed by Apple Computer, QuickTime
is a method of storing sound, graphics, and movie
files. It has .mov file extension. Although QuickTime
was originally developed for the Macintosh, player
software is now available for Windows and other
platforms.

R

RGB
(Red Green Blue)

The three colors that create all other colors on a
computer screen.

Raster Graphics

Raster-based graphics have become a
standard technology and are popularly known by their
GIF and JPEG formats. Raster graphics use
pixel-by-pixel definitions as opposed to vector
graphics which use computer algorithms to describe
shapes, lines, animation, etc. (see GIF & JPG)

S

SHTML
(Server-side include Hypertext Markup Language)

A Web file with the suffix of .shtml
indicates a file that will include some information
added "on the fly" by the server before
being sent.

SGML
(Standard Generalized Markup Language)

An international standard for the
publication and delivery of electronic information.

T

Tag

An HTML command that has an effect upon
the content of a Web page. Enclosed by angle brackets
(<>) tags allow control over colours, fonts,
links and the position of content in a Web page.

U

Upload

To copy a file from a local computer to
a remote server or host system. The reverse process of
download.

URL
(Uniform Resource Locator)

The address of a Website typed into a
Web browser in order to access it.

V

Vertical Portal

A Website that caters to consumers
within a particular industry. Another definition of a
vertical portal is one that caters solely to other
businesses. (see Portal)

W

W3C
(The World Wide Web Consortium)

The World Wide Web Consortium develops
interoperable technologies (specifications,
guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to
its full potential as a forum for information,
commerce, communication, and collective understanding.

WYSIWYG
(What You See Is What You Get)

A WYSIWYG editor or program is one that
allows an interface or content developer to create a
graphical user interface or page of text so that the
developer can see what the end result will look like
while the interface or document is being created.

X

XML
(eXtensible Markup Language)

A programming language/specification
developed by the W3C. XML is a pared-down version of
SGML, designed especially for Web documents. It
enables Web authors and designers to create their own
customized tags to provide functionality not available
with HTML. (see W3C, XML, SGML & HTML)

Y

Yahoo!

A directory of World Wide Websites
organised in a hierarchy of topic categories.

Z

Zine
(electronic magazine)

The nickname for an electronic
magazine. Also referred to as e-zine.

ZIP

An open standard for compression and
decompression used widely for PC download archives.
Commonly referred to as a "ZIP file," it can
hold one or many files as well as a directory
structure. After you download the file you need to use
a decompression software program to "UNZIP"
the file.